en·the·o·gen
by Xelly-chan
Summary: She clears her throat, raises her head, blinks too bright eyes, and smiles an honest smile. (Re-editing and updating. The assassin au no one wants)
1. (burn all your things)

Fandom: Inuyasha  
Characters: Kagome Higurashi, Souta Higurashi, the Late Higurashis  
Word Count: 1073  
Warnings: Character death. Violence against a child.

Summary: goodbye lovers goodbye children

Notes: I'm revisiting this to edit it up, elongate chapters, and make said chapters chronological.

* * *

 _Sensitive breath._  
 _You're alive._  
 _Since a long time. There's nowhere to hide. That I can't find._  
 _Tracing the lines. Testing the noose. Coffin or not._  
 _I'm coming with you. You were mine._  
 _Before you would know. Grotesque and fine. Whenever you show._  
 _Further now._  
 _We step in the dark. Deeper I feel._  
 _The blade in the heart. You remind me._  
 _Of_ someone _I know._  
 _Is it yours or mine. The blood in the snow._

True Widow- _"Entheogen"_

 _a chemical substance, typically of plant origin, that is ingested to produce a nonordinary state of consciousness for religious or spiritual purposes. Lit. "to become divine within"_

* * *

There are men speaking in dry, professional tones. One overshadows the rest as he lays down a list of condemnations in a heavy, solemn voice. "You've betrayed us all with your inaction," he says, grim disapproval ringing in his words. Kagome thinks of an executioner's blade against a whetstone. "You could have very well have brought about the end of mankind... had I not discovered your indiscretion. It is by the gods will that I do this, to save us all."

The men begin a low chant that Kagome recognizes as a prayer their grandpa had shown them once. A prayer asking for blessings and guidance on the path to divine peace. The drone of their low voices is ominous, perverting it. The prayer reverberates over the roar of the fire consuming the shrine grounds.

An elderly voice rises above them all. The old man's voice rough with furious, powerless tears, shouting, "How dare you! How dare you try and use the God's will to justify such atrocities! It is you who walks the road to ruin!" He sobs around a scornful laugh, "And you do so with your head held high, foolish and blind with hate." The old man begins to cough, an awful wet and whistling sound.

Just outside the well house door, a woman murmurs disparagingly, "Oh father, no, no...please..."

"I'm sorry, my daughter. I'm sorry," says the old man, choked with tears.

There is the sound many men moving into formation, the chant gaining fervor. "I give you one last chance to accept judgment with a clear heart," Intoned the first man.

The old man gives another scornful laugh as the woman began to hum, low and soft and sweet and silvery with tears. It drowns out the chant and, hiding in the dark well shaft, a little girl's heart starts to pound in her chest. She clutches onto her brother, pressing her palms to his ears as if she could protect him. Kagome blinks through the blinding tears spilling hot and terrible down her cheeks.

( _goodnight_

 _goodnight lovers_

 _goodnight children_

 _goodnight_ )

Her little brother gasps, painful around a sob, pressing his snotty face into her chest. Kagome shushes him, frantic.

"If that's the way you desire it to be, then so it will be," Intones the man with something like remorse. Heavy blows begin to batter the well house door. The ancient wood gives an alarming groan, then splinters under the barrage.

The woman's voice breaks, turning fearful. Her voice goes shrill with urgent pleading. At once, the old man's stubborn defiance crumbles into terror. Filling with desperation, he begins to beg lowly. "No, _no_ \- Leave those-p-please leave the children alone, please, _please you can't-_ "

One of the men chanting leaves the chorus with an angry snarl. A sudden thick, wet, sounding impact then a heavy thud sounds out. The woman lets out a horrid, mournful wail that cuts out with terrible abruptness.

The girl-

Kagome

\- sobs. Fear whites out her brain. Instinct takes over. She presses her brother and herself into the dirt corner of the well, as deep into the shadow as she can. A futile effort to hide them both with nowhere else to run. She buries her face in Souta's hair, holding him closer to her heart. Her hands pet his shaking back, trying to soothe him while shushing herself.

The well house doors bursts open in a shatter of wood splinters. The malevolent orange glow of their burning house shines down the dark well. A man's shadow creeps over them, blocking the light once more. Kagome looks up and sees his blackened silhouette swimming through a blur of salt and terror.

"Ah, my child," says the man in the shadow, outstretching his hand. "Rejoice for you are saved."

Another shadow bursts out from behind him. It shoots down the well shaft like an arrow.

Kagome shrieks.

She throws her hand up to ward off the streaking shape cutting through the dirty flame glow like a knife. A bright light sparks to life from Kagome's hand, an icy pulse jolting through her veins. A brittle dome of shimmering power encircles the siblings a split second before the shadow collides. The light flashes brighter at the point of impact. Power strikes back at Kagome, buckling her arm underneath the strain. The shadow presses forward with a light of their own, sharp and unrelenting.

Sweat and tears pour down her face, blinding her. Kagome releases Souta, thrusting up her other arm against the pressure, " _Go away!_ " she screams. Souta screams along with her. His small hands clutch onto her shirt, white knuckled and desperate. He shoves his wet face into her spine, panicking sobs wracking his body with painful, distracting intensity.

The shadow rears back then strikes down with multiplied force. Splintering cracks shoot through Kagome's frail light, forcing her to her knees, sending an agonizing shockwave through her body. The well shaft lights up in a fireworks display of scattering light. Time goes slow, tilting on its axis as the weak barrier is overtaken.

 _Oh_ , Kagome thinks. _Oh no._

The world above mutes.

The crackle of the fire dimming even as the heat of it arcs higher. The false, soothing words of the man (monk) melting into a buzz in her ears. Souta too, felt strangely far away. Even the sensation of his crushing grip around her waist disperses like so much smoke in her mind.

Mommy, grampa, Souta... They all slip from her mind.

For a fraction of an instant compressed into an eternity, the sensuous grasp of unreality neatly severes Kagome from her body.

All time stops as she met her attacker's eyes.

The shadows in the well have burned away by the lights of the shattered barrier. Kagome sees with more clarity than being under the sunlit center of the shrine.

Wide, dark eyes narrowed with cold assurance set in a beautiful, unmoving porcelain face of a teenage girl. Kagome gasped, soundless. As if waiting, time rips itself back into place with terrible, sudden, certainty. Her surroundings, the sensations, everything, floods in all at once, overwhelming and disorienting.

Defenseless, there's nothing Kagome can do, weakened and helpless already, as the teenage girl's fist slams into her ribcage.

There's nothing Kagome can do as her world ends, submerged in flames and shattered light.


	2. atmosphere of glass

Fandom: Inuyasha  
Characters:Kikyo, Ungai, with appearances of the Siblings Higurashi and Onigumo  
Word Count: 1463  
Warnings: Character death discussed. Bad writing.

Summary: _what must be done will be done_

Notes: since i'm writing this in chronological order now, sesshoumaru wont appear for a long minute. So for now, enjoy vaguely ominous, but mostly questionable foreshadowing. Chapter title lifted from _The Glass Essay_ by Anne Carson

* * *

"Was all this," Kikyo pauses, the corners of her mouth tightening. Her eyes flick to the rearview mirror, narrowing on the small, unconscious children. "truly necessary? Master Ungai."

Beside her, Ungai closes his eyes, heaving a tired, regretful sigh. "Tonight was a loss for us all. I take no pleasure in anything that's transpired-

"However, what must be done will be done," Kikyo says, finishing for him. Her hands clench around the steering wheel, her knuckles stand out, stark and bloodless. Her voice remains untouched, and she smoothly maneuvers the gear shift and guides the sleek, unmarked car unto the highway. "I understand."

Ungai offers a pitying smile. "Truly there are no words for my regret. And yet, to leave the situation to unfold as it was… I shudder to think of the possibilities." He places his weathered hand over Kikyo's shoulder, the weight of it too heavy and it settles like a stone in her soul.

She knows, has known, what's coming next, even before she stepped over Mrs. Higurashi's pale, stricken face thrown along the dirt path, her clean arms blossoming with bruises from the ropes. The halo of red mixing with short black hair, staining her beige cardigan. Kikyo knew as she stepped through the splintered well house doors and saw that small, insignificant light shining from beneath the lip of the well. She knew the moment she felt it, beating against her ribcage like a bird. Ungai says, solemn, "And that is why I must ask this of you, Kikyo. It may be arduous, but I know you'll see my orders through."

His grip tightens on her shoulder.

"Yes," She says. "I will."

Ungai leans back in his seat, a satisfied smile sliding into place over his harsh mouth. His hands clasp in his lap as he flashes a calculating glance at the rearview mirror, "I have much faith in our chosen path.

Kikyo does not reply.

The complex inside the mountain has wide echoing halls and is always cold and damp.

The girl in her arms shivers and Kikyo briskly rearranges the too big suit jacket to cover more of the girl. Is chagrined when thin, scrape covered legs are left bare except for one scuffed shoe and a muddy hello kitty sock. She stares the stained sock, sees ruddy, bloodstains in hello kitty's bow. Kikyo's hands twitch where she's gripping the girl's thigh, nails biting into tender flesh. The girl squirms, creases forming in her young, round face, a small whimper building in her throat.

Kikyo forces her hands to relax.

Ahead of her, Ungai makes a thoughtful noise in his throat, the sound of it lost in the dim, empty hallway. Kikyo glances at the other, identical barren halls and sharp turns full of long lines of black tile and unassuming doors. It was not a regular occurrence for the deep inner reaches of the compound to be entirely deserted. Normally there would be several personnel milling about on their way to logistics from communications. Even to the altar rooms, the scent of incense cloying and faded. Mind turning to the loadout locker they passed by on their way in, a frown threatens to break over her tight mouth.

The retrieval team had not been there, stripping out of their tac gear and doing munitions inventory and inspection as she would have expected.

"Sir," she says, staring past the point of his shoulder where the other child, the boy, was resting. "The compound is strangely...still."

It wasn't empty, even though they had passed no one else since entering the main atrium through the mouth of the mountain. She could feel every one. Their lights, all pulsing with a mass of something unidentified, some brighter than others. The call of their souls, their power.

Out of them all-

She glances again at the girl cradled in her arms, sweat dotting her forehead, plastering sweetheart bangs there.

- _the brightest one is here._

Her mouth sours.

Kikyo nearly doesn't hear Ungai's reply, looking up to meet his eyes as he comes to a stop in front of the Inner Shrine, turning to face her.

"Yes. I thought it'd be best if we were alone when we brought her into our world. To ease the way for her."

As if the girl was some sort of bird, imprinting on the first thing she sees. Kikyo had doubts. "I see. Her brother?"

Snapping his fingers, Ungai held the boy out to the figure who slides out of the shadows. Kikyo watches, nonplussed, as Onigumo transfers the boy to his own shoulder. An unlit cigarette is tucked behind his ear, a pencil holding his wild hair in place in a bun, his glasses askew. As disheveled as ever. The burn scars crawling up his throat and down his arms peak from beneath his rumpled, white collar button up are red and inflamed, irritated as if he'd been rubbing at them again. His scarred hands look out of place cradling the boys back, cigarette-stained and blunt.

"You," Kikyo says, unsurprised.

"Me," Onigumo agrees, cheerful. His smile is shit eating. "You put these kids through quite the ringer, Kikyo. Master Ungai asked me to do an unofficial check-up before sending them to medical."

"For now, it will just be the boy. As soon as Onigumo has documented anything of note, he'll follow the proper procedure for incoming trainees." Ungai says. Kikyo sees him throw another long, calculating look at the girl as he smooths his robes.

The implication there is... unfortunate. Kikyo asks, "Sir. The girl, Kagome, will she not also be registered as a trainee?"

"Pfft. No." Onigumo snorts. He shuffles around the boy to free up a hand to dig in his pocket for a lighter and a crumpled pack of Pall Malls. "Obvious questions aren't like you."

Aware of Ungai's gaze, Kikyo reigns herself in to only casting Onigumo a withering look. "This is a matter that doesn't concern you."

"That's quite enough," Ungai says, stern. "It's time to return the matter at hand. Onigumo, you've something to attend to. Tsubaki's sedative was quite effective, I suggest waking the boy soon."

Onigumo rolls his eyes, slipping another cigarette between his lips. "The civilian will see himself out, then." He waves himself away, clicking his lighter as he goes.

Kikyo turns back to Ungai, who has begun tracing seals into the heavy wood and steel doors of the shrine. "Will you truly trust Onigumo with such an important task?" It wasn't likely Onigumo's instructions ended at an unofficial preliminary check-up. For the children to be separated meant there was more than she originally considered, and she'd considered much since the call had gone out.

The carved patterns lit up beneath Ungai's touch, lighting a trail of power that arcs and races from the center outward, unseen mechanisms inside the door grinding to life audibly. There is a final, heavy clunk, a large lock sliding back, then the doors open slowly. Ungai goes forward, into the shrine, Kikyo following close behind. "He is capable." He says, at last.

It doesn't answer the question.

Once they clear the threshold, the door slide shut, a final pulse of power sealing them off from the rest of the complex. Ungai walks before the set of stairs in front of the crystalized statue placed behind the altar. A few paces behind Ungai, Kikyo stares up into Midoriko's serene face, a tangle of fearful, reverent emotions brew under her breastbone as it is every time she faces the ancient priestess. Feels the remnant of power in her petrified remains, steady and deep echoes, like the waves of an eternal ocean, locked away in a giant conch.

After a moment, Kikyo feels something she's never felt before. Those lingering waves of echoing power are...agitated. The faint tendrils of purity are roiling against themselves, lashing around Midoriko's remains. They slip along the edges of the tall ceiling and distant walls, rattling the surrounding artifacts in their place.

"Midoriko is..." Kikyo hesitates. There is an emotion, or an impression of one, riding the echoes of power. But it's hard to identify, and Kikyo doesn't know what ignited it in the first place.

"Excited. The time has come. Five hundred years in the making." Ungai whispers, something rapturous and unsettling behind his words. It jars Kikyo out of her reverent awe enough to notice something she almost missed.

The pulses of power coming from the remains were in response to the girl. To Kagome.

And. There was another, third presence there. Right over her heart.

Kikyo's gorge rose up to her throat as her stomach sank. In her arms, Kagome began to shift into the waking world, Tsubaki's poison purifying as the call of power continued to pulse.

"Mmm...mommy?"


End file.
